Quest to kill
by WolfieOwl
Summary: Harry has escaped Death for too long, so Hades sends Nico to go settle the problem. But there are some complications in the way...
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there. Once upon a time there was a silly little author who thought of a silly little story and didn't know what to do with it, or how it would turn out. So now here it is :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or Harry Potter**

* * *

Nico's POV

Grimmauld Place. Yup. This was the place, but where was number twelve? I let out a sigh of frustration. Why couldn't anything be _easy_ for once? But noo… the Fates just hated me, didn't they?

This was my third assignment from Hades that week. After the Titan war, our relationship had gotten somewhat better, but now he was sending me out to do little 'jobs' for him. Find some escaped ghost, come up with a new torture for the Fields of Punishment, tell Charon to stop asking for a pay raise, things like that.

This time, it was to find some guy named Harry Potter and kill him. Apparently, he had already escaped Death one too many times. By all rights he should be dead, but he had lived because of a sacrifice made by his mother and pure luck. Hades had only allowed him to live because the fates deemed him untouchable and said he had a prophecy to fulfill. And everyone knows what happens when you mess with prophecies. Bad things.

So for seventeen years now Hades left him alone, but the paperwork was piling up and his prophecy was complete. It is time for him to be taken.

It sounds unreasonable, I know. Demigods escape Death plenty of times. You don't see Hades' son coming after _them,_ now do you?

But the thing is, they're _demigods._ They have a thing for almost getting killed multiple times. And Hades couldn't very well kill _every_ demigod who escaped death too often (meaning everyone), now could he? That and, if he did, he'd have a bunch of angry Olympians coming after him, plus an overcrowded Underworld.

I took out the little slip of paper from my pocket and reread it, with some difficulty -damn dyslexia- checking that I was in the right place.

Yes, this was it. I was definitely in the right place, but then where on earth was Number Twelve? There was Eleven and Thirteen, but…

Idiot! How could I be so stupid? I walk towards the houses in front of me, squinting. The image shimmered, and for a moment I saw something protruding from the middle of Eleven and Thirteen. Then the image vanished almost as fast as it had appeared, but I had seen it. There was some strong Mist here.

I squinted again and walked towards the space separating Number Eleven and Thirteen. Closing my eyes, I stretched my hand out. My fingers met hard wood. I let them slide across the smooth surface of the door, searching for the potrusion which i knew would be the doorknob. Finally, my hand bumped into metal.

Grasping it, I twisted the doorknob.

Surprisingly, the door swung open with ease. I stood there staring ar the doorway for a moment, wondering why the Hades would _anyone_ want to leave their door unlocked. Then I shrugged, stepping into the threshold. Other people's doors were other people's business, unless, of course, I would be the one having to break into their house. _Then _ it would be my business. But I had already done that, hadn't I? Oh well.

* * *

**So this chappy is really short, but give it a chance :P Anyway, please REVIEW and tell me what you guys think! Till next time!**

**Wolfie O.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to the four people who reviewed :P You know who you are. I'm really sorry I haven't been able to reply but my Inbox seems to be a little screwed up. It appears on my email but not on the one on Fanfiction. **

**This story takes place during the summer holidays, and Nico already knows them being wizards. Enjoy!**

* * *

Nico's POV

_And then I stepped inside._

Immediately my internal alarms started blaring. _Enemy territory! Get out of here! Go far far away and don't come back!_

I grabbed the hilt of my sword and looked around warily. It was a creepy house, and- were those house elf heads on the wall? Correction: _really _creepy.

I heard the pounding of footsteps, and suddenly three people appeared at the top of the stairs, all wielding sticks. They weren't much to look at. The girl had frizzy brown hair and brown eyes. The boy, who looked around seventeen, had messy black hair and green eyes. The other guy wore shaggy robes and looked like he could use a nap.

I drew my sword and shifted into a defensive position.

"_Expelliarmus!"_ A jet of red light shot out of the stick.

I instinctively used my sword to deflect it. Unfortunately, that didn't have the intended effect.

My sword flew out of my hand and landed a few feet away, out of reach.

Great, just great. I pulled my spare dagger out from my boot. The stick wielding wackos shot other jets of light at me, which I dodged as I sprinted up the stairs towards them. I would have just shadow travelled, but I didn't have such great control over it. I only had mastered getting to the general location of places. If I tried now, I would just probably end up outside the house again.

I made it to the top of the stairs. I could feel a faint trace of death coming from the boy with black hair. He must be Harry then.

I dodged another jet of light and grabbed the shaggy looking guy. Before he could react I flipped him over, leaving him lying on the floor.

The girl let out a shriek. I turned towards her.

"_Impedimenta!_"

I dodged again, briefly wondering what that would have done had it hit me. Then I decided I didn't want to find out.

I pushed past the brunette and headed toward Harry, who was shooting spell after spell at me. It was a miracle I had missed them all.

"_Stupefy!" _The one that had me came from behind. And I was too slow to move out its way.

I fell to the floor. The last thing I heard before everything went black was a voice saying, "Bloody hell,"

Yup, 'bloody hell' pretty much summed everything up.

* * *

**I know my chapters are really short. I'll try to make them longer, I swear. But that last line seemed like a pretty good place to end a chapter. REVIEW! :P**


	3. Chapter 3

Harry's POV

Ron had just gone out to get the groceries. Mrs Weasley had decided Ron finally learn how to prepare a meal and practically dragged him out of the house, leaving Hermione and I with Mr Weasley. We were at Number 12, Grimmauld Place.

While cleaning up the place, we had discovered a Boggart in the cupboard upstairs. Mr Weasley was helping me get rid of it. Not that I needed any help, but he insisted.

We heard the sound of the door opening downstairs. Hmm, I didn't think Ron would have learned how to cook so fast. Hermione apparently thought so too, because she put a finger to her lips, drew her wand, and whispered "_Homenum Revelio_,"

A light shot out of her wand, pointing down the stairs. **(A/N: I'm not actually sure what would happen if there were an intruder in the house but the most I got was that some sort of marker would appear) **I saw Hermione immediately tense up. "It's not Ron," She whispered.

Mr Weasley rushed to the stairs, and we followed him. And there, standing in the living room, was a boy holding a- was that a sword? He regarded us with cold dark eyes that reminded me of blackholes. Snapping out of it, I shouted, "_Expelliarmus_!"

The boy held up his blade as if to deflect the spell. Did he not know '_Expelliarmus'_ was a disarming spell?

His sword flew out of his hand and he let out a string of words in another language. I could tell he was cursing.

Then, he drew a dagger from his boot. Seriously, how many weapons did this kid have on him?

We shot spell after spell, but he dodged them all. And soon enough he was at the top of the steps. Hermione let out a shriek as he flipped Mr Weasley over, leaving him lying unconscious on the floor.

He turned to Hermione, who shot another spell at him, which he again dodged. How he managed to dodge all those spells, I had no idea.

Pushing past Hermione, he stepped towards me. Just as he was about to raise his dagger, I heard Hermione yell "Stupefy", and this time, the spell hit home. He collapsed onto the floor.

"Bloody hell," panted Hermione. I looked at her in surprise. Hermione usually disapproved of cursing, and therefore rarely did so. That was usually Ron's job.

We ran over to check on Mr Weasley. "_Enervate," _I said.

Mr Weasley's eyes slowly fluttered open and he sat up groggily.

"Wha-"

"That guy knocked you out," Hermione explained to him.

Mr Weasley scrambled to his feet. "What happened?"

I pointed to the boy's unconscious body lying on the floor.

"We'd better tie him up them," he said grimly.

He slung the boy over his shoulder and carried him to the kitchen.

We heard the door click open again. Immediately we were on guard, our wands drawn and pointed at the kitchen doorway. We heard shuffling and finally Ron stepped into the kitchen.

"Merlin, Mum's completely- who's that?" Ron finally caught sight of the boy.

Hermione explained to him what had happened.

"Why is it I always miss the good parts?" he grumbled.

Once the boy was safely tied to one of the kitchen chairs and we were sure we removed all his weapons, (which included multiple daggers stuck in his other boot, the inside of his jacket, and his belt. Strangly enough, he didn't have a wand) we finally got to get a good look at him.

He was wearing all black, with a skull ring on his finger. Even his hair was black, with hung over those creepy eyes of his. He was paler than Malfoy, but still managed to retain his olive skin tone. And scariest of all, he was practically radiating death, even while unconscious.

"Do you think we should write to Kingsley? Tell him we found another Death Eater," asked Hermione.

Mr Weasley nodded, "He's most likely another Death Eater wanting revenge. One of the ministry officials can handle it. But until they get here, we can question him ourselves,"

He pointed his wand at the boy, "_Enervate,"_

* * *

Third Person POV

Nico di Angelo was not happy. Well, he wasn't usually a very happy person to begin with, but now he was feeling particularly pissed off.

He had woken up to find himself tied to a chair in what seemed like a kitchen. Add that and a pounding headache, plus a few sticks being pointed at him, resulted in him being quite grumpy actually.

"Who're you?" A voice said, more like demanded. As Nico's vision cleared, the image of the man he had flipped over swam into view.

Behind the man stood the brunette from before, Harry, and a new guy, a redhead.

"I said," said the man impatiently, "Who are you?"

Nico decided it wouldn't hurt to tell them who he was.

"Nico di Angelo,"

"Why did you break in?"

"Break in? Please, the door was unlocked,"

"Then why did you attack us?"

Nico remained silent.

"Why did you attack us?" The man repeated.

Nico gritted his teeth and glared at the man with such intensity and death radiating off of him that the man took a step back.

Regaining his composure, the man turned to the people behind him.

"Well, it's obvious he's not going to be telling us anything. Hermione, is there any Veritaserum left?"

The brunette, who must have been Hermione, shifted uncomfortably.

"Er, no. I checked all the cupboards. I could write to Slughorn asking him to send us some,"

The man turned back to Nico and regarded him for a while.

Nico continued glaring. The man sighed, pointed the wand at him, and said, "_Locomotor _chair,"

The chair which Nico was tied to was lifted up. That was about the time when Nico started to panic. Not that he showed it, but he was not good with floating, or anything that involved his feet not touching the ground, really.

The man levitated him back up the stairs and into one of the rooms. Then, muttering something under his breath- probably putting a spell on the room to prevent him from escaping- the man left Nico there.

Once Nico was sure the man was gone, he started searching for ways to escape. The easiest way was to shadow-travel out of course, but he had to get his job done. He had to kill Harry Potter. But how?

He shook his head. First things first: Get out of those dreaded ropes. He searched the shadows. Longs tendrils of shadows stretched out towards him, he used them to try to loosen the knots.

Finally managing to free himself from the chair, he started trying to think of ways to kill that Harry Potter. He could always try shadow-travelling behind him and killing him. Quick, though very bloody. Or he could just open a crevice in the floor and let him fall through. That would be the more preferable method, but he needed his sword for that. And he needed to be near Harry, and on the ground floor.

He growled in frustration. He should never have gotten himself into this mess in the first place. If he was honest with himself, and he tried to be, it was quite reckless of him to just waltz into the house like that with no plan whatsoever. Stupid, even.

He checked for weapons, and really wasn't surprised when he found none. They must've removed them.

He kicked his chair as he paced the room. What to do? He really didn't want to wait until they got the Verita- something or other. Whatever it was, it sounded painful, and he had the feeling it wouldn't help his case at all_. _

He tried shadow-travelling out of the house. As much as he had to kill Harry- or Hades would kill him-, he liked to have the alternative option of escape if it came down to that.

He smiled grimly as he felt the familiar embrace of the shadows as they engulfed him. He was flying… and then suddenly he was thrown back.

He hit the wall of the room with a loud thump. "Ow," he said, rubbing his head and grumbling.

Well, that was that, he was stuck. Figuratively and literally. With his last option of escape gone, he had no weapons, no plan, and he couldn't even get out of the room… or could he?

Maybe the house only didn't allow its occupants to travel _out_. What if…? He concentrated hard on the other corner of the room, and let the shadows engulf him again.

It worked. He appeared at the other side of the room with no trouble at all. So he could travel _around _the house, just not out of it. Now he just had to make sure he could shadow-travel out of the _room. _The man had placed a charm on it after all, and Nico needed be sure of its restrictions. But he couldn't risk doing it now. If he shadow-travelled out of the room, and the people outside saw him, there would be more questions, and definitely more trouble for him.

But in any situation, no matter how dire, there are always loopholes. As Athena once said, there is always a way out for those clever enough to find it. Nico smiled as a plan began to form…

* * *

**Well, that was ending I never tried before :) Wonder how that'll turn out...**


	4. Chapter 4

Nico's POV

And so the plan began. Honestly, if I hadn't been so out of options at the moment, I would have said the plan was crazy. It had too many 'what ifs', too many loopholes, and too many things that could go wrong. In other words, a typical plan for a reckless demigod.

I retied myself to the chair, with much difficulty and some help from the shadows, and waited…and waited…and waited.

Finally the door to the room opened. I tried to look as innocent as possible. The redheaded man walked in again, looked at me warily for a while, then levitated me and the chair down the steps and back into the kitchen.

"So," the man stood in front of me, trying to look intimidating, which really wasn't working. I had faced off with far worse things, and this man just wasn't all that scary. "You ready to spill?"

I glared at him again, and I swear the room turned darker and the temperature dropped. The man's eyes widened, but he stood his ground. Hmm, maybe he wasn't all that of a coward after all.

The man sighed. "I was afraid it would have to come to this," He turned to the people behind him, and I noticed a new redheaded woman. Seriously, what was it with all the new people and redheads?

"Molly," The man said resignedly, holding out his hand, "the Veritaserum,"

The woman, who must've been Molly passed a flask of colourless liquid to him.

I sent out my senses, reaching out to the shadows. They told me that my weapons were in the other room.

I disappeared into the darkness, reappearing in what looked like a drawing room. There they were, lying on a table in plain sight. I inched closer towards my weapons. Suddenly I was thrown back by some sort of force field.

I heard the pounding of footsteps getting closer. Quickly, I got to my feet and wrapped the shadows around one of my daggers, tugging it towards me. It worked, the dagger landed at my feet and I picked it up. Apparently, their magic had no effect on shadows, only people.

At that moment the door burst open, the wizards pouring in and pointing their sticks at me. Here we were again. Why do I always get myself into these situations?

I ducked as a spell flew over my head, taking a step towards them, I crouched and launched over the redheaded boy, a trick I had learned from Thalia, believe it or not.

I landed in front of Harry.

In one swift movement I had dropped and rolled between his legs, coming up behind him. I put my blade on his neck, cold metal touching skin.

I was about to slit his throat and… _Kill him, kill him now! That's what you came here to do, isn't it? Just get it done and over with! Do it now! _The logical part of me screamed.

All this time I had been so preoccupied thinking of ways to kill to him, I had never considered the prospect of killing him itself. But now that I had my blade at his throat and he was in my mercy, I realized I just… couldn't do it.

I had never killed a human before. At least, not one that wasn't going to kill me. And the idea of doing it now made me sick to the core.

_You want your father's approval, don't you? Well, this is your chance! Just do it already!_

All fighting had ceased, and they were watching me with apprehensive eyes, wands pointed at me and ready to fire if I tried anything, but I knew they couldn't hit me without hitting Harry.

I pressed my blade harder into Harry's neck, and a single drop of blood dripped down onto my hand.

I guess that was what really woke me up. I couldn't kill an innocent. Sure he had escaped Death, but had he really? It wasn't like he was centuries old like Daedalus was. No, he was only seventeen.

_But he has already died once, _I reasoned with myself. What's dead must stay dead. Have you not learned your lesson? Dying isn't even that bad of a thing. Decision made, I got ready to deliver the killing blow.

_Don't,_ a voice echoed in my head. It wasn't my mental tone, it was cold and stoic and without humour, and something about it sent a shiver up my spine.

_Don't kill him. He is essential. The gods may not know it just yet, but without him there will be almost no chance of winning._

I could tell it was a woman's voice, and it felt weird to have someone else in my head. I didn't really take well to having people messing around with my mind.

_Who're you? Win what?_

_I am Hecate, goddess of Magic, and Harry belongs to my realm. Do not kill him. He must not be touched._

_What do you mean?_

But the voice was silent. Hecate was gone, leaving me with questions and without any answers. Ugh, what was it with gods and riddles?

I bit my lip. Hades would be mad. He'd probably blast me to pieces for defying his direct orders, but if I killed Harry, Hecate would blast me to pieces too. I really did like staying intact.

I sighed and removed my dagger from Harry's neck. He stumbled forward and backed away from me, making retching noises while his throat tried to recover.

"Dad's gonna kill me," I muttered.

And with that I reached out to the shadows and tugged my sword towards me. The rest of the weapons could be replaced, but not my sword. It was hard to find stygian iron.

The last thing I saw before shadow travelling to the front door and sprinting out were the wizards staring at me in confusion, too dumbfounded to move and unsure as to whether they should go after me or not.

* * *

**Just to clear up any confusion, Nico was able to get out of the house because he went out the front door. He came in the front door, he should be able to get out that way as well.**

**Anyway, I hope you guys like it :P**

**Wolfie. O**


	5. Chapter 5

***Sigh* Another short chapter...**

* * *

Nico's POV

"What do you mean you _couldn't kill him_?"

"Hecate said not to! I didn't want to get blasted!"

"Would you rather get blasted by _me_ then?" Hades said threateningly, a black ball of fire appearing in his hand, which told me I'd better explain quick.

"She said he was essential to winning! Maybe she's on to something!" I said desperately, trying to defend myself. As I've said before, I liked keeping myself intact.

"Winning _what_? Hecate is one of the goddesses who joined Kronos in the Titan war! She's turned against us! Why would she help us now?"

"I don't know! You turned against the gods too, but you helped out in the end, didn't you? So why can't Hecate?"

Immediately I knew that was the wrong thing to say. Hades' eyes flared, and the fire ball in his hand burned brighter.

"I helped the gods win! Hecate is a completely different case. If I remember correctly, she refused to rejoin us when we offered. The gods had to blackmail her into doing it!"

"That's not the point. The point is that Hecate is implying that there will be another fight, and that without Harry we will lose!"

"There hasn't been any sign of there being another fight!"

"You've already got me checking up on both camps. And what about the next Great Prophecy? How does that not count as a sign of another fight?"

"Prophecies usually take years, maybe even centuries to be fulfilled. There is almost no chance of it happening now!"

"But still, what if Hecate is right? What if Harry _does _have some important part in this?"

Hades sighed exasperatedly and leaned back in his throne. "Wouldn't the Fates have told me not to kill him if he did?"

"Why _would_ they tell you? They're the Fates. They do what they want with other people's life threads,"

Hades looked thoughtful. Maybe he was beginning to see some truth in my words.

"Harry has already died once. What's dead must stay dead. Surely you've learnt that," he said slowly.

"Yes, but if Hecate is right, then that won't matter anymore. _Everyone_ will die."

Hades seemed to be considering. Then he said, "Fine, you have one chance. _One _chance to prove Harry is needed. If in a month there is no sign of the prophecy taking place, then you must kill him. I don't care _what_ Hecate says after that. Or, you know, a life for a life,"

I paled. _A life for a life._ If Harry wasn't killed by the end of a month, I would need to find another person to kill, a person who had escaped death too. And that would be all the more harder.

I nodded. This was the best deal I was going to get, I could tell. "Yes father, but how?"

"Oh, I don't know. I'm sure you'll figure something out. Though I hear Harry is going to a school named Hogwarts or something else equally ridiculous. Something about 'completing his final year'. "

"Yes father, I understand,"

"Now go! And I expect you to keep keeping track of both camps. If Hecate _is_ right, though I highly doubt it, they would both be uniting very soon, and that would put us all in danger,"

I nodded and shadow travelled away, wondering how I could possibly prove anything in a month. Unless, that is, some divine force decided to prove that for me.

* * *

**Hades seems a bit tame, doesn't he? Well, I dunno :P**

**Wolfie. O**


	6. Chapter 6

Harry's POV

It had been a week since the creepy kid showed up. Rogue Death Eaters were common after Voldemort's defeat, and ones wanting revenge even more so. The incident had almost been forgotten. Almost.

Of course, then I had to run into him in Daigon Alley.

Let me start from where we left off. After the kid escaped, the Ministry wizards arrived. But he was already gone, and since we couldn't even show them what he looked like, they couldn't capture him. There wasn't even a record of there ever being a 'Nico di Angelo' as a Death Eater.

All of us had our own speculations about him. We all agreed that he was most likely a Death Eater, though Ron hadn't dismissed the idea of him being a vampire. Hermione thought he probably lost his wand and resorted to weapons because he obviously couldn't just waltz into a wand shop. Her theory, of course, was the most logical. The only thing that we couldn't explain was how he appeared out of the shadows.

It wasn't Apparition, anyone could tell that. According to Hermione, it was called 'Umbrakinesis', the power of controlling darkness with the mind. It was a form of Dark Arts, and banned by the Ministry. No witch or wizard had been able to possess that kind of power for over a century. So why was it that this kid, who couldn't be any older than thirteen, able to do it?

And if he was a Death Eater, wouldn't we have heard of him? A wizard with Umbrakinesis would have been a great asset to Voldemort. Surely Voldemort would have used him?

Speaking of Voldemort, after his defeat, everything began to return to normal, or as normal as it would ever be. Most of the Death Eaters had been rounded up and sent to Azkaban, and Hogwarts had even been rebuilt over the summer. Hagrid had been reemployed as Care for Magical Creatures teacher, and all the other teachers would resume their duties. We had no idea who the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher would be though. McGonagall said we would find out when we got there.

So of course, Hermione insisted that we go back to Hogwarts to complete our final year, which we missed because of Horcrux hunting. Ron, being Ron, was most reluctant. But with a few glares and death threats from Hermione, he eventually agreed. He still remembered what happened the last time, which included punches, screeching and birds. Even Ron wasn't stupid enough to anger Hermione, if he treasured his life.

Which brings us back to the present. We were at Diagon Alley shopping for our school supplies.

We needed to get new potions ingredients, and of course the books. We were just walking out of the Apothecary and on our way to Flourish and Blotts when I saw him.

He was in front of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, lugging a very large bag and cursing, a lot. I nudged Ron and Hermione and pointed in his direction.

Hermione gasped, "Isn't that-"

"Yup," said Ron, "But how? What's he doing here?"

"I'm contacting the Ministry," said Hermione, pulling out her wand.

"No," I stopped her, "I say we follow him ourselves first,"

"But-"

"No," I insisted. "I want to know what he's up to. If the Ministry wizards come now, we'll never find out,"

Hermione huffed, "Oh, fine,"

I saw him disappear around the corner, and, after making sure no one else was looking, took out my Invisibility cloak and threw it over the three of us, before following him.

That was when I realized he was headed straight for Knockturn Alley. Ron and Hermione seemed to realize this too, because I felt them stiffen under the cloak and quicken their paces.

Knockturn Alley was fairly deserted, like it always was. The shops were still dingy looking. Nothing looked like it had changed here.

The boy stopped and leaned against a wall, putting down his bag. "I can see you, you know. That cloak of yours won't do you any good,"

We froze, staring at him and making to move to reveal ourselves. He sighed and looked straight at us. Slowly, I warily pulled the cloak off. He gave us a wry smile.

"Harry Potter," he mused. "I didn't expect to meet you here, much less for you to have Thanatos' cloak. He lost that quite some time ago, and was pretty annoyed when he had to get new one,"

I drew my wand. "What d'you mean?" I demanded. "How did you know we were here?"

His smiled melted off his face. "I can sense death. And _that," _he pointed to the silvery cloth in my hands, "is Death's cloak. You've had quite a few encounters with death yourself, haven't you?"

I kept my wand trained on him, trying to figure out what he meant.

"Death's coming for you," he continued. "You have an important part to play. Or at least, I think you do,"

"Are you threatening him?" Hermione said indignantly.

The dark haired boy shook his head, "No, I'm only stating what's going to happen. And this is _definitely_ going to happen,"

"Stupefy!" The curse came from Ron, but the boy just sidestepped and the spell hit the wall harmlessly.

"Who're you, really?" I asked.

He started smiling creepily again, and his eyes had the look of either a genius, or a madman. "I'm Nico di Angelo, or did you forget that already?"

"That's not-"

"You know my name, the rest isn't important right now,"

"Of course it's important!"

"No, it's not. I'll tell you, in time, but now…now's not it. The only thing you have to know is that something big is coming, and you have a vital role to play. But if you don't…well, then Death won't be so kind as to let go next time,"

I opened my mouth to retort, but he interrupted me again, "This won't be the last time you'll be seeing me," and with that, he disappeared into the shadows once more, leaving us staring at the place he once stood.


	7. Chapter 7

Nico's POV

Hogwarts. What kind of name was that? I stood in front an enormous castle, staring up at it awe. I had to admit, it was pretty amazing. When Hades told me it was a _school,_ I expected a school, not a _castle._ Annabeth would have loved it, architecture and all. In fact, if she saw this, she probably would have gone on and on for hours about it.

It was evening, and I could hear the sounds of chattering and laughter coming from inside the castle. Well, this was it. This was supposedly my best chance to figure out what Hecate meant and if it was true or not.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open and stepped inside. Immediately all heads turned towards me, staring. My eyes roamed the room, taking in the floating candles, the long tables filled with food, the ceiling that looked exactly like the sky. The ADHD part of my brain told me, offhandedly, that maybe I should have been less obvious about my arrival.

A strict looking woman in green robes stood up at the table in the front. "And who might you be?" she asked.

"Nico di Angelo," I announced.

Her forehead creased. "Why are you here? We certainly don't have any exchange students this year, and I've never seen you around before,"

"Umm…"

"Come with me," she got up from the table and started walking briskly out of the hall.

I followed her. The other students were still staring at me, and I tried to ignore them. I wasn't usually a nervous person, but crowds…crowds made me uncomfortable.

She led me up and down flights of stairs, down hallways and past so many classrooms I lost count. Our footsteps echoed across the empty hallways. It was like the labyrinth all over again, and I was beginning to wonder if she was trying to confuse me on purpose when she stopped, causing me to almost walk right into her. I didn't think she'd like that very much.

In front of us was a life sized gargoyle. I was confused at first, why did she stop? But then I saw that it was guarding a door. Ah, so it was another secret passageway.

"Animagus," She muttered, and the gargoyle sprang up and jumped to the side.

Behind where it once stood the stone slid open, revealing a winding staircase that spiraled up by itself, somewhat like an escalator, except made of stone.

Without looking to see if I was following, she continued up the steps. Finally, at the top, was an oaken double door. She pushed it open and stepped inside, me trailing behind her.

She turned around to face me. "Now, what's your _real_ reason for being here? And don't lie. I can tell when someone's lying," she said sternly.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to look genuinely confused.

"Oh please, everyone knows about _you_, son of Hades," she said accusingly.

"How did you-"

"Minerva McGonagall, daughter of Hecate,"

My eyes widened in surprise.

"So why are you here?" she repeated her question, looking at me expectantly.

I sighed. Might as well tell her. Maybe she could help me, being Hecate's daughter.

"I was sent to kill Harry Potter by my father, but just as I was about to kill him Hecate interfered. She said he was essential, that without him we wouldn't be able to win…something…"

"And?" she prompted.

"And now I have little more than three weeks to prove that Hecate was right and Harry is needed, and if I can't prove it by then, I'll have to kill him,"

She just stood and stared at me for a moment while that bit of information sank in.

Then she started pacing. "You're not lying," she muttered, more to herself than me.

"I need you to let me stay here, at least for a little while, until I figure something out,"

She turned to regard me coldly, "And what makes you think I would do that?"

"Because coming here is the best chance I have. And I don't think you want Harry dead, either,"

She raised her eyebrows at me, telling me she wasn't convinced.

"And if Hecate is right," I continued, "There _will_ be a fight and Harry _will_ be needed. I suspect that the time of the next Great Prophecy is drawing nearer. Maybe that has something to do with it, maybe not. But I'm pretty sure that it'll affect all of us,"

"And what makes you so sure?"

"Well, if Hecate cares enough to warn me not to kill Harry, then wouldn't she have…I dunno… told her own children?"

Minerva pressed her lips together. "You don't understand. Hecate and her children…we have a long and complicated history. Most of us here, that is to say, wizards and witches, aren't children of Hecate. They are only people who have been blessed by her, or legacies. The gift of her magic has been passed down through the generations, becoming so diluted that we now have to use wands to channel our magic,"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

She looked at me pointedly, "I was just getting to it. When Hecate first started blessing mortals in which she favoured, Zeus became angry. He was jealous that Hecate had a world of her own and people who worshipped her. So he told her that she couldn't bless the mortals anymore, and that to those whom she had blessed, their gift was to be taken away from them. She was not to have any contact with them again.

Hecate was angry at this, and she defied Zeus' order. She continued blessing mortals whom she favoured. When Zeus found out, his rage shook the earth and skies, wiping out almost half of the wizard population.

It was like a declaration of war. The wizards fought against the Olympians, and the battle went on for a few years. Eventually it just became too bloody to bear. To prevent any more bloodshed and loss of their own, they came to a truce.

Those whom Hecate had already blessed could keep their powers, but Hecate was not to gift anyone anymore, and she was not to have contact with them. In turn, Zeus would leave them alone."

"Wow, that's…long,"

"That's not the end of the story. After, the wizards, left to their devices, began to populate. They created their own Ministries, schools, everything magic would allow. But they forgot about the gods. And that is what you see now. Wizards and witches, oblivious to their own heritage,"

"Is that why after the Titan War, Hecate refused to rejoin the gods even when they offered?"

She nodded, "Hecate has a grudge to hold. She will not forgive Zeus for the deaths of so many of her people,"

"But then why-"

"She cannot come into contact with us, were you not listening? But she still cares for her people. In fact, she is one of the most loving goddesses who care for her children. When she saw you were about to kill Harry, of course she interfered! She may not be able to speak to us, but she can still speak to you,"

"If she hates Zeus so much, why would she help the gods now?"

"Because this is not just a little grudge anymore. The fight that she's sees coming, as you said, will probably affect us all,"

We stood in silence for a while after that, wondering what that could possibly mean.

Then she spoke, "You are right. I do not want Harry dead,"

I started to reply, but she interrupted me. Jeez, this lady really liked cutting me off, didn't she?

"I will let you stay at Hogwarts, for the time being. But do not tell anyone who you are. Your identity must remain a secret,"

Figuring that if I started talking she'd probably interrupt me again, I just nodded.

"Good. But if you are to stay, you will need a House. And a House requires sorting. Let us hope you figure something out before it is too late,"

And she walked right out of the room, gesturing for me to follow her.

Whatever sorting was, it didn't sound very fun.

* * *

**I didn't know the password for the Headmaster's office, so I just made one up :P This chappy mostly focused on the history between the wizards and the gods. Not much action, but, yeah… :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**So sorry I haven't been updating for a while, but I've been busy doing...things. Sue me :P**

* * *

Third Person's POV

Nico followed McGonagall to the Great Hall. She cleared her throat loudly.

Immediately everyone quieted down, looking from her to Nico and back again curiously.

"I have an announcement to make. We will be hosting a new student this year. He is an exchange student from America, and will be staying with us for a few weeks. Let us welcome Nico di Angelo,"

A few half-hearted claps were heard, but mostly the students were just murmuring among themselves and craning to get a good look at Nico.

McGonagall was suddenly holding a stool with a ragged old hat on it. She placed the stool in front of him and held up the hat, looking at Nico expectantly.

He realized she was waiting for him to sit down, and so he sat. She put the hat over his head, and it dropped down over his eyes so he couldn't see.

'One more? Ooh, this'll be interesting!' A small voice said into his ear.

Nico almost fell off the stool. The hat could talk. It could freaking _talk._

'Now now, no need to sound so surprised. Hmm…where should I put you? Ah… you have a thing for holding grudges, I see…What's this? A war!? Yes, you tricked a friend, and yet in the end managed to save him… There's a good amount of cunning and courage right there.'

Nico quickly tried to block his mind. If the hat saw into his memories...Well, let's just say there were some things in there that he didn't want other people to know about.

The hat, however, seemed to pass through his mental barrier completely, digging deeper into his mind, resurfacing old memories long forgotten.

His time with Bianca in the Lotus Casino, the Manticore and how she had joined the Hunters, how she died… No! He pushed back against the hat with as much force as he could, and the hat seemed to retreat a little from his mind.

'You would do well in Slytherin, you know. Lots of power… You have many qualities that Slytherin prizes. Yes, you would do best there…'

_I want to be in whatever house Harry's in, _Nico thought.

'Gryffindor? Well, there _is _a good amount of courage. Are you sure?'

_Yes._

'Absolutely positive? Yes? Well, okay then… GRYFFINDOR!'

Nico heard the hat shout out the last word to the hall. He felt the hat being removed from his head and he stood up, unsure what he should be doing now.

McGonagall nodded towards the red and gold table. He walked over and sat down beside a round-faced boy, then turned his attention back to McGonagall. She walked back up to the High table, and said loudly, "May the feast continue,"

Once again chattering and the clanging of utensils filled the hall. The boy beside him turned to him. "Hi, I'm Neville, Neville Longbottom," he said.

"Nico di Angelo," he said, biting back a laugh. Really, what was it with wizards and their ridiculous names? Honestly, _Longbottom?_

"Which school are you from?"

"Um… Olympus Academy of Magic," he replied, improvising. He could only hope this boy wasn't curious enough to go look it up. Though he didn't really seem the type.

"That's weird. We've never had an exchange student before, much less one from America. Unless you count that time the students from Bueaxbatons and Durmstrang came for the Tri-Wizard Tournament,"

"Well, there's a first time for everything,"

"I guess," and the boy turned back to his food, digging in eagerly.

Nico started putting a bit of everything on his plate. Honestly, he didn't think he's seen so much delicious food in his life, having lived in a school for a year during the only time he could remember after the Lotus Casino. And school food wasn't exactly what you'd call delicious. After that, well, there wasn't really much time for food in the Labyrinth and Underworld.

Nico was ravenous, and he began stuffing himself. Neville turned to look at him again. "Hungry, huh?"

"Starving,"

Once Nico was all full and well, he started to take a good look at the hall. It really was magnificent, the pillars, the long tables, the floating candles… And that was when he sensed it. The familiar cold presence drifting not two meters to his right.

There it was, translucent and hovering at the table, talking to some of the students. In fact, now that he started looking, every table had at least one.

He nudged Neville, "Are those-"

"Ghosts? Yup. Every house has a ghost. Ours is Nearly-Headless-Nick," he said jerking his chin towards the ghost at the table.

Nico wanted to get mad. These ghosts were meant to be in the Underworld! And yet they were too cowardly to face Death, instead choosing to remain in the land of the living even after their time was up. More importantly, they were the cause of the extra paperwork!

It was infuriating to not be able to do anything. These ghosts didn't even seem to recognize the Ghost king, though that might have been due to the fact that they had been away for so long. They wouldn't know that the Ghost king wasn't Minos anymore. Nico guessed that was good, in a way. The ghosts wouldn't be able to blow his cover. But _still_, the they were getting on his nerves.

And so, ironically, the one called 'Nearly-Headless-Nick' drifted over and – guess what – started talking to them.

"You're the exchange student?"

"Yes," he replied, trying to act casual.

Nearly-Headless-Nick didn't seem notice his stiffness.

"Well, I must say, that's something new. We haven't had an exchange student since –well, never, actually. At least, not that I know of, and I've been around for a long time,"

_So you have,_ thought Nico sourly.

"I'm Nearly-Headless-Nick,"

"I know,"

Hades had ranted on for hours about the escaped ghosts and the paperwork they caused. Nearly-Headless-Nick had been one of them. Nico wouldn't have remembered him if not for the 'Nearly Headless' part. That made it pretty hard to forget.

"Ahh, Neville has introduced me, I see. But I would _prefer_ if you called me Sir Nicholas de –"

"I don't care," Nico interrupted. This ghost had gone from slightly annoying to full out pissing him off.

"Oh," Nick looked slightly put out, "Well, I must be going. Things to do, people to see,"

Nico highly doubted that, but Nick had already floated off to talk to the other students. Finally.

"See you later, Nick!" Neville called after him. "Why were you so rude?" he asked Nico accusingly.

"I don't like ghosts,"

That pretty much ended their conversation and Nico was allowed to take actual note of the hall in peace. The possible escape routes, the arrangement of the long tables, where everything was placed.

It was a habit he'd taken to while in the Labyrinth. Though very often it hadn't worked there – for the Labyrinth was designed to confuse the mind – he had learned to memorize where things were placed. It helped, sometimes.

When everyone had finished their dinner, the food disappeared, leaving the plates sparkling clean. Nico thought that was when they were supposed to go to bed, but was pleasantly surprised when dessert appeared not moments later.

He dove into his food again. Someone should've told him there was going to be dessert, then maybe he would have saved some space in his stomach. Gods, he loved dessert.

When he really couldn't eat anymore and everyone else felt the same, the food disappeared from the table once more, along with the plates.

McGonagall stood up at the teachers' table. Immediately everyone quieted down and turned to listen. What proceeded was a long list of announcements, which Nico didn't really pay much attention to. Something about brooms and forbidden items and forests.

At last the announcements ended and McGonagall sent them off to bed. He followed the crowd of Gryffindor students who were being lead by – Wait, was that-?

It was! There at the head of the crowd, leading the Gryffindor students, was the redheaded boy whom he had met at Grimmauld place, the one who was with Harry at Daigon Alley too.

It figured that he'd be in Gryffindor too. He started looking around for the frizzy haired brunette, and finally spotted her not too far away, leading the other half of the students.

She seemed to feel his eyes on her, because she whipped around and full out glared at him. It was a glare that said: _You might have fooled Professor McGonagall, but you can't fool me. I will find out what you are and why you're here. Just you wait. _The phrase 'If looks could kill' popped into Nico's head. He met her gaze evenly. They had a stare-down of a sort for a moment, and then she turned and stalked away, the first years looking confusedly between them and hurrying to catch up.

This was going to be harder than he thought, with those two there. Now, he not only had to convince Harry, but them as well. Those three seemed close, and he figured Harry was bound to listen to them if they suspected him, which they already did.

At last, they came to a stop in front of a portrait of a plump woman in a pink dress. Nico wasn't really surprised when she moved and started talking. The paintings here seemed to do that a lot, and the Hecate cabin at camp had some pictures that did that too.

"Password?" the fat lady asked.

"Blibbering Billywigs," said the redhead, who had gotten there before the brunette did.

The portrait swung open, revealing a round hole in the wall. They filed through it, and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room. It was a round, cozy room with squashy armchairs and a fireplace.

The first years were directed to the girls and boys dormitories and Nico was about to follow them when –

"Oh, no you don't," The brunette, whom Nico now remembered was called Hermione, stepped in front of him, blocking his way. He tried to step around her but was blocked again by the redhead and Harry.

"What are you doing here? What do you want?" The redhead demanded.

"I've already told you that wasn't going to be the last time you saw me. Well, here I am,"

Hermione glared again, "That doesn't explain _anything._ We want answers, _now_,"

"You shouldn't go poking your nose into things that are none of business," he replied nonchalantly.

"Of course it's our business! You tried to kill me!" Harry burst out.

"But I didn't, now, did I? Makes all the difference,"

Harry spluttered, and Nico took that chance to push past them and head up the stairs to the boys dorm.

Finding his bed at last, he collapsed into it and fell asleep immediately. Of course, a demigod's life is never so easy, even when sleeping. So it was no surprise when Nico didn't really get a peaceful night's sleep at all.


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm alive! :) Yay! You guys have probably already forgotten all about this fic. But to those who haven't, virtual cookies and gummy bears for you :P**

**Now – don't kill me! I know I haven't updated in 3…4 months? But I have my excuses, er… I mean reasons! Firstly, I'm not really sure of the plot yet. When I started this fic, it was actually just supposed to be a 'Nico goes to Grimmauld Place' fic, but then I started thinking of all the other things that could happen and I just couldn't stop there :P **

**So the plot is subject to change. I'll also be editing some of the previous chappys to make myself feel more satisfied with them. If I **_**do **_**change the plot, I'll say it in my A/Ns (if it greatly affects the story).**

**On a happier note, I want to announce that I have absolutely **_**no intention **_**of abandoning this fic :D So you guys don't have to worry about that. And now…the story!**

* * *

Nico's POV

All I wanted was some sleep. Simple really, just some sleep, right? But noo… I had to have a freaking _dream. _Now, some of you might be thinking: It's just a dream, what's so bad about it?

Well, you see, when a demigod has a dream, it's never _just_ a dream, it has to be something symbolic, like a vision or an omen, or in my case, talking to a goddess.

I dreamed I was in some sort of church. It was vast and musty and looked like it hadn't been cleaned in a century. At the far end of room was a soft green glow.

Out of plain curiosity I headed towards it. As I got nearer, I could see that it wasn't a glow, it was a woman. And now that I got nearer, I could see that _she_ was the source of light. She had her face raised like she was praying, and wore white robes with silver designs, like runes.

"Why, hello, Nico di Angelo,"

Her voice sounded familiar. In fact, it sounded like–

"Hecate?"

"Ah, so you recognize me,"

_Hard to forget when you've been in my head._

"Why did you call me here?" I asked.

"I want to help my people. A battle is coming, a battle that involves not only the world of gods and monsters, but that of witches and wizards as well. I may not have any love for the Olympians, but I cannot leave my people to suffer just because of an old grudge,"

"What battle?"

"The prophecy!"

"The _Great _prophecy?"

"Yes. I can't give you all the details. I am bound by the ancient laws. But what I _can_ tell you is that Harry plays a role in uniting the two realms. And to win, you will need more than the help of the Romans,"

"Wait – The Romans and the Greeks, they're going to be – They're going to come together? But that'll be absolute chaos! There will be blood and war and–"

"And without them there will still be war. Their help is needed, whether you like it or not,"

"But what have the wizards got to do with this?"

She shook her head, her face still raised to a dirty stained-glass window above the altar. "I have said too much already. The rest you must figure out for yourself. But know this, in the end, it is your choice that will make the most difference,"

"Wait! What–"

But my dream was already fading, her words just an echo the distance. Drifting… drifting…

* * *

Ron's POV

We confronted that Nico kid, and he just pushed past us like we weren't worth his time! It was just infuriating! He tried to kill Harry, strutted into Hogwarts like he owned the place, and refused to explain _anything_.

One thing was for sure, he was definitely hiding something, and I was going tofind out what it was.

"Ron? Ronald Weasley! Are you listening?"

"What?" I snapped.

"Harry thinks we should consult Dumbledore," said Hermione.

I stood up and stared blankly at Harry, my forehead creasing in confusion and wondering if he had finally gone mental.

"Dumbledore's dead," I said bluntly.

Harry smacked his hand onto his forehead, "I meant his painting, Ron."

"Oh,"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Forget him, Harry. It's a brilliant idea. When do we do it?"

"The sooner the better,"

"How 'bout tonight?" I said, because I tired of feeling stupid.

Harry nodded. "Okay, I'm not sure we'll all still fit under the invisibility cloak though,"

"We could always make temporary ones," Hermione suggested, "I could get them done for tonight. Just a simple invisibility charm should do it,"

Harry and I nodded. It was a great plan, really. Hermione was a brilliant witch, and I appreciated that.

"He's a bit… creepy, isn't he?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's definitely got a dark aura about him," Harry agreed.

"But what _is_ he hiding, really? What's heup to, coming to Hogwarts?" Hermione thought aloud.

I shrugged, "Guess we'll find out tonight,"

And together we headed towards the Great Hall for breakfast.

* * *

Nico's POV

"Nico? Nico, wake up. Breakfast ends in ten minutes,"

"Wha–?"

"C'mon, we're going to be late,"

I felt a hand nudging me. Groggily I sat up, and the world came into focus. Neville was standing over me, all dressed and ready.

"Go away," I slumped back down onto my bed, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep.

"No, get up. They're giving out our schedules today,"

"Why do you care what I do?" I grumbled, my voice muffled from having my face buried inside my pillow.

"Fine. Suit yourself. I was just trying to help," He huffed and walked out of the room.

After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling and debating whether or not it was worth it to get up, I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed. Ugh, _robes._ Seriously, had these wizards not heard of jeans and a T-shirt?

I trudged to the hall, following a few other latecomers and throwing myself into an empty seat beside the Gryffindors, who edged away from me, glancing uncomfortably in my direction. Maybe it was due to the fact that I was so pale I looked like a corpse, or that I was staring daggers at anything I set my eyes upon, or that I was radiating death. Whatever the case, ignored them, digging into my food hungrily and thinking about what Hecate had said.

_You're going to need more than the help of the Romans,_ she had warned.

The wizards were going to have to help, or we would lose. It was the ultimate get-together. All three groups working as one, the Romans, Greeks and Wizards. _What next? The Norse?_ I almost rolled my eyes at the thought, but then caught myself when I realized that was actually all too possible.

At any rate, how was I supposed to bring them together? The Romans and the Greeks would surely fight, and why would the wizards want to help? They had just finished a war of their own, after all. How was I supposed to convince them to help?

Which reminded me, Hades had wanted proof that Harry was needed. Well, there was his proof. Hecate had said herself that he was needed in order for the groups to be brought together, and why would she lie? If there was one thing I was certain about, it was that Hecate cared for her people. I made a mental note to Iris-message Hades as soon as possible to tell him.

But with answers came more questions and problems to solve. Uniting the camps with the wizards was the main problem. Would Zeus even allow it to happen? He had huge ego issues, and I was sure he wouldn't just let it go so easily.

I sighed, pushing my food around my plate. Why did things always have to be so complicated?

McGonagall began handing out our class schedules halfway through breakfast. Sighing in annoyance, I squinted at mine, trying to make out what my first lesson was. The letters danced across the page, taunting me. '_fgrnrsnTiuaato'_, it read. Oh gods, what was _that_ supposed to mean?

Left with no other choice, turned to the girl beside me and tapped her on the shoulder. She whipped around, her eyes widening in surprise.

"Can you read this for me?" I asked, holding out my schedule.

She gave me a once over, looking at me calculatingly before saying, "Can't you read it yourself?"

"No, I'm dyslexic," I explained.

Her forehead creased for a moment before she took the paper from me and looked through it.

"You're first lesson's Transfiguration, followed by History of Magic, Divination…" she rattled off the list of subjects for the day.

I furiously scribbled it down in Greek on one of those little paper napkins they had on the table. She looked on curiously.

"Interesting language," she commented.

"I guess so,"

She pursed her lips, clearly dissatisfied with my lack of elaboration. "Mmm, is that Greek?"

"How'd you know?" I looked up from my writing.

She laughed, "I take Ancient Runes. We were forced to learn at least part of the Greek Alphabet,"

She got up from the table. "Well, nice meeting you. I've got to go for lessons now," And with that she walked off.

I sighed, at least there were _some _relatively nice people here.

I got up from the table too and made my way to Transfiguration, sincerely hoping they didn't transfigure _people_, because spending my time as a guinea pig in a cage like Percy had, did _not _sound fun.


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione's POV

"Are these –" Ron's question got cut off by Harry, who finished it for him.

" – our blankets?" Harry held up the fabric in his hand, inspecting it calculatingly to little success as the cloth had turned his entire hand along with itself invisible.

I rolled my eyes at them. Honestly, how stupid did they think I was?

"No, you dummies," I continued, "those are _duplicates_ of our blankets, which I then put a charm on to make them invisible. The _real_ blankets are still lying safely on our beds so that no one finds out we're gone,"

"Oh," Ron looked at me sheepishly.

"Are we ready to go?" Harry asked.

We nodded and got under our separate cloaks/blankets. Tonight, we were going to find out what Nico was doing in Hogwarts.

* * *

Sneaking out proved to be relatively easy. Almost _too_ easy, but I wasn't going to complain. It might've been because we had already done this too many times to count, and our ability to sneak around the school after curfew had improved greatly over the years due to experience. Or it might've been that Harry had the help of the Marauder's map, still useful after all these years.

We had checked that Professor Mc Gonagall was indeed not in the office but patrolling the corridors, and that there were no other teachers there, before climbing out the portrait hole.

It was the first time we had ever snuck out under different cloaks, and it felt weird. All the times we'd gone out, it had always been under Harry's cloak, and now that I couldn't feel the warmth of all three of us huddled under the same cloak, the comforting presence of someone _else_ there beside me, it made me feel… different. Granted, we now could move more freely, but that meant that we couldn't tell where the other was going either. Harry had to constantly whisper to let us know where he was.

Having to hear Harry whisper directions seemed to be so much more difficult than just following him, but we managed to make it all the way to the fourth floor before we even got close to any of the teachers or Mrs Norris. Harry managed to get us to steer clear of them. Bravo Marauder's map.

Finally, we reached the third floor and stood in front the stone gargoyle. It looked the same as always, except this time it had it eyes closed, apparently sleeping, if stone could sleep.

"Er…Harry?" Ron whispered, "I think we've overlooked one tiny problem in this plan,"

"What?"

"We don't know the password,"

I heard the light tapping of footsteps as Harry began to pace.

I quirked a smile, shaking my head in mild amusement, "You guys have so little faith in me, you know that?"

The footsteps stopped, and I assumed Harry was looking at me – or attempting to.

"You know the password?"

"I followed Mc Gonagall after lessons earlier today," I explained, "and _finally, _after following her around for a full _hour_ – that's most of my free period that I could've spent studying by the way – she ended up back here. Password's 'animagus'."

By the silence that followed, I could tell they were gaping at me. I sighed, stepping forwards to face the gargoyle.

"Animagus," I whispered.

The gargoyle cracked open an eye, regarding us for a moment before leaping aside. The stone behind where it once stood slid open, and we stepped onto the spiraling staircase, letting it take us to the top.

Apparently getting over his shock, Ron muttered, "You really did your homework as always, huh Hermione,"

"As always,"

We reached the top of the stairs. Taking a deep breath, I pushed open wooden doors and stepped inside, Ron and Harry trailing behind me.

Surprisingly, it still looked the same: silver instruments on little tables, the portraits of the previous headmasters and headmistresses all snoozing in their frames. I would've thought Professor Mc Gonagall would have redecorated the room to suit her more now that she was the new headmistress, but it was still so…_ Dumbledore. _I guess she couldn't bear to get rid of all his stuff.

Silently, we wandered across the room, taking everything in. And there, hanging on the wall, was the person we had come to see. Careful not to bump into anything, we made our way across the room, not wanting to wake up any of the other portraits.

"Should we wake him up?" I heard Harry ask.

I removed the cloak from my head and nodded, probably looking more than ever like one of the ghosts from the Headless-hunt.

I tapped the frame Dumbledore was in, and held my breath. His light snoring paused for a moment, but then he continued his slumber. I tapped the frame more insistently. This time, he shifted body position, but still remained asleep.

"Dumbledore," I hissed, "wake up,"

"Hmm?" He murmured in his sleep.

"Wake _up_," I tapped the frame harder, and Dumbledore let out a groan that clearly said he did _not _want to wake up.

"Heavy sleeper much?" I muttered.

"Let me do it," Ron said from behind me and removed his cloak too.

He raised his hand level with the frame, and… poked Dumbledore in the stomach.

Immediately Dumbledore jerked backwards and those brilliant blue eyes snapped open, still glazed over with sleep, but the twinkle was there. Eyes that had scrutinized me so many times and seemed to be able to see right into my soul, framed by half-mooned glasses.

"Hello Professor," Harry too, had now removed the cloak from his head so that it looked like it was floating in midair.

Dumbledore blinked a few times, and then we probably came into focus because he jumped a little. "Ah, you three," he said, "What brings you here at this time of night?"

There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Oh, er… you see, there's this new student at Hogwarts and – and we think he's up to something," Ron said. _Oh Ron, blunt and tactless as always._

"Does this …. 'new student' happen to go by the name 'Nico di Angelo?"

"Yes – that's it!" I said. Maybe Dumbledore did know something after all.

"Well then, I'm afraid I can't tell you very much about him." _And then he disappoints me._

"Why not?" Harry asked.

"It's not my place to say,"

"Look – Professor, he tried to kill me! I think that counts as 'suspicious'. At first we thought he was just another Death Eater, but now he's here at Hogwarts too!"

"Yes Harry, I know. But unfortunately, this is a problem I cannot solve. Di Angelo is difficult case, and I can't reveal his secrets,"

"So you _do_ know why he's here?" Ron asked.

"Ah, that is for you to figure out on your own. I'm sure you three are very good at that sort of thing," That ever-present twinkle in his eyes was suddenly very annoying.

I felt like pulling my hair out. Even in a portrait was Dumbledore as frustratingly cryptic and vague as ever. We had come all the way here, only to have him refuse to tell us _anything._

"But why can't you tell us?" Harry persisted.

"Because some secrets just aren't mine to tell. But one thing I can tell you, you are meddling with forces far greater than before. Be careful,"

_Worse, he was now dramatic too._

"But –"

"Now, I suggest you three go back to bed. I hear Minerva coming," he smiled.

Hastily, we pulled our cloaks back on, just as the oaken doors swung open. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dumbledore resume his sleeping position, smile still playing on his lips.

Mc Gonagall strode into the room and walked right past us, slumping down into a chair and rubbing her eyes tiredly.

We hurried to the door before it could swing close again, and were out as silently as we had come.


End file.
